If you were asked to name the most courageous king of Israel, would King David come to mind? Probably so, but what if the challenge was to name the most courageous king of Judah? There were many good and brave kings of Judah, but none in Israel once the kingdom was divided.

Arbitrarily, I have chosen Josiah based on his many reforms in the face of sickening blasphemous and entrenched evil.

Josiah was the great grandson of good King Hezekiah and the grandson of Manasseh who seduced Judah to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.(2 Ki 21:9) Manasseh reigned over Judah for 55 years, as a co-regent with Hezekiah for 10 according to scholars.

After Hezekiah made the mistake or sinned by showing the visiting Babylonians all the treasures of his house, he was warned by Isaiah that in the future …all that is in thine house…shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord(2 Ki 20:17). He was told that all of his sons would be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. This did not seem to bother Hezekiah (2 Ki 20:19). Perhaps he knew what sort of man his son was?

Josiah's father, Amon, emulated Manasseh. After reigning two years his servants killed him, and the people made Josiah their king when he was only eight years old. He reigned in Jerusalem 31 years, (2 Ch 34:1) dying at midlife.

At 16 Josiah began to seek the Lord in a determined way (2 Chr 34:3). This was also the year his first son was born, the same age as Amon when he first became a father. Perhaps Josiah reflected upon the duties and affairs of men and the brevity of life.

At age 20 Josiah's reforms began (2 Chr 34:3) and at 21 his compatriot, Jeremiah, began to prophesy (Jer 1:2). Thus, he ran a little ahead of the weeping prophet who announced the destruction and fall of Jerusalem.

As Josiah built up the homeland and place of worship, Jeremiah foretold their demise, yet in these opposed roles the men had deep affinity because of their intense love of God. Each was obeying the Lord, and God was not at cross purposes. He was preparing the hearts of his own since they would be exiled in the not distant future, so they would need a deep faith that Josiah was assisting them to develop.

For example, Daniel was one who no doubt benefitted from Josiah's devotion. Had his parents not learned or been strengthened to worship and serve God thanks to Josiah's reforms, would he have become the seer of the kings of the East or had the spiritual reserve to pray through to the time of the return of the Jews to their land?

This is something to reflect upon: our courage is not always to the end nor purpose for which we exercise it. Yet the Lord may be glorified by it, though we seem to fail in our goals.

In small matters and large we should exercise courage. As we determinedly seek to follow Christ, victories in daily provocations and dilemmas increase the fitness of our emotions and spiritual life. There is physical fitness and there is also inner strength gained by choosing the right way in little things.

To understand the courage of Josiah, we will review the litany of evils facing him, that comprised Manasseh's legacy. We will look at these in our next post.